Day 1 - The ordeal at Ambala - repair the broken bikes :)

6th July 2008

This was to be the longest day of all. We got up at 8.30am freshened up , took a nice bath and went to the parcel office to get our bikes. The parcel babu seemed least interested in customers coming in and we asked where our bikes were. Imagine to our horror he shrugged saying "Pata nahi honge to idhar hi nahi to platform pe - kahin nahi jayenge". So the wicked parcel babu in the night didn't fulfill his promise of getting the bikes at the parcel office , bloody government officials that they are.

We came out on the platform and went to the parcel supervisor and asked about that .... he too was at his resting best and shrugged that they must be somewhere on the platform and they will come here sometime ... sometime?? Now sometime in their lingo can mean 1 month too..so what were we to do? Sit like idiots there ! He suggested we locate the bikes and come back. So me and Purvesh decided to look at all the platforms where our bikes were....bloody painful job of searching 7 platforms end to end looking for missing bikes.

We spent the better part of the next 1.5 hours looking for our bikes on every platform and I feared the worst whether they were burgled or what. Searching the platform in the stifling humid heat wasnt exactly a great idea of spending a Sunday but we had to. Finally after a long search we found our bikes on the same platform where we had got them down a little away from the place where we had got them down. There were 3 bikes there and the 4th one was locked away in the enclosure meant for luggage.

We went to the parcel office again and told them happily that we located our bikes only to be told that it was a Sunday so no parcel unloading and moving guys were available.. we were asked to move the bikes ourself from the platform to the parcel office before completing the formalities and taking them. Whoa...now what does the railways charge so much money for? Just like that? and then ask the people point blank to move their own bikes if they wanted it...they just dont care about anything or anyone.

So off we were to the place where we found our bikes and started moving 2 of them - one with Purvesh and one with me from platform number 7 to the platform number 1 - parcel office. The road was at the end of the platform and we had to go right across the tracks platform to platform dogding people and for that matter the trains which arrived and goto the parcel office.

When we were moving the bikes the 1st lot of them someone snubbed us.We turned to find out that it was a guard of some train saying what we were upto?. He said only the railway parcel guys were authorized to move the parcels and not others and he said that the Railway Police might catch us and interrogate us thinking that we were running away with the bikes. Bloody hell. To our relief we found a parcel officer Mr.Ashok there who too echoed the same. We told our predicament to him and he assured he would do something. We also asked him to unlock 1 of our bikes in the enclosure to which he asked a guard to do it and that bloody guard asked for a bribe of 40/- to unlock the bike...bloody shit...this corruption goes deep into the roots...no wonder we talk about such stuff...you have to be in such a situation to get something out of these guys that you forget that you took an oath that you would stop corruption! Even if that thought comes to your mind you are so tired of haggling with these people that you think its better to escape their clutches than getting entangled deep in the mire.

Mr.Ashok told us that if someone (read the Railway Police) intercepted us, we were to tell his name and get away! We moved the first lot of the bikes to the parcel office and came back to take the other 2 ones. By the time we had reached the parcel office with the 2nd lot we were sweating like hell and completely tired thanks to the callousness of the railways and the nature.

After the ordeal we went inside to get the bikes released , the usual faltu office stuff....we were offered water by a kind railway fellow...the 1st fellow we had met there who was so courteous...surprise! Finally we got the bikes released out and removed the packing which was done while loading in Pune.Filled petrol in the bikes and took 2 bikes first to the hotel parking. Came back and took the other 2 bikes to the hotel.

Now, it was time to repair Saurabh's bike... the footguard of the right hand side brake was broken from the weld - had to repair it and the front plastic shield over the headlight was broken too. We went to the main Indira market which was supposed to have many mechanic shops. After some goof-ups we finally reached the market automobile shops. One shop was named Sardar auto shop and the other was named "New Sardar Auto Shop" -- weird :)

So we got a new Apache plastic shield and went to a mechanic who had set shop just opposite these shops. The mechanic Subhash was jolly good fellow and asked us a few things about our ride and got the visor fixed in sometime. Then we asked him if he could repair the broken footrest ... he saw the thing and said he can do it ! He went with purvesh to a weld shop and got the thing repaired. He applied great logic in getting the broken thing fixed in such a way that it looked almost like that it wasnt broken. Cool! We heaved a sigh of relief but now it was nearing almost 4pm and we didnt even have lunch but anyways the bike was repaired now and we gave Subhash the amount he asked for and he also told us that if anything needs repairing again just to give him a call and he shall meet us to repair.

I would specially like to thank Subhash who repaired the bike so nicely and properly at the same time answering questions we posed to him with a smiling face and then asking us to contact him anytime we faced a problem with any of the bikes. People in the north side are very helpful in this manner - i can seldom find anyone so helpful in pune :) (just my opinion)

We came back to our hotel room and had some rest. We had to fix the luggage cage for my bike so I went out to get a hammer and pliers with which we needed to fix the clamps to the cage onto the bike to hold it tight. I again went to Subhash to ask him the shop where we could get the tools and he came with me personally to the tools shop to get me the tools + he purchased some for his shop. He also guided me to the puncture repair wallah to get a puncture repair kit for our ride ahead.

I came back to the hotel after leaving Subhash at his place and we started fixing the cage to my bike. The cage fixing took an hour but once done it was sturdy and firm and I put my haversack in the cage to test its firmness.

After having refreshed ourselves after the gruelling day we had a nap of an hour or so before leaving for Deluxe dhaba for dinner. We had our fill and went to check out the timings of today's train which would bring all the others and the last of the 3 bikes. The train was late by an hour or so.We hoped that the 3 bikes coming today dont have any major breakages or problems which would hinder our schedule as we had to start next day morning at 7am for Manali.

The other problem which lay in front of us were that the bikes which came today would only be released next day morning from 9-5 in the day which could affect our schedule too - we made some plans to get the bikes released by asking permission to the parcel guys.

Coming back to the hotel we packed our haversacks and cleared the room and had a nap upto 12am. We started for the station at 12.30am and parked our bikes in the parking and went to the parcel office - there we met Mr.Devidayal again and he assured us that he would get the bikes again today..false promises :) we knew but we couldnt do anything much.

The train came in at 1.00am and Saurabh and Deepak came to the rear end to get the bikes. Today's commotion was even more. There were 3 bikes to be removed and when we opened the luggage door there was a bike on top of our bike. After much struggle we removed the bike on top with the guard who helped us and got all our 3 bikes down and finally heaved a sigh of relief. We gave the guard his due and pushed the 3 bikes to the parcel office. Once there we requested the parcel supervisor to release the bikes immediately so that we could proceed but he demanded some amount to do it and we gave it to him - helplessly and took our bikes out , filled petrol and we were off to the hotel - all of us.

Thankfully all the bikes which came today were 100% ok and we heaved a sigh of relief.

Everybody came into the room and got fresh. Some people slept for sometime and Purvesh was fixing the cage to his bike which came today.

The morning we had to start for Manali - that is in the next post :) , phew what a day and the bloody railway wallah's...we wowed we would never send the bikes by train again !